In the end, Ryan chose the Alchemist class to make his skill at potion-making to increase. Besides, he wanted to obtain the recipe to create potions that will boost his dexterity. So, that was only natural. Fortunately, in another sense, he had been lucky.

Congratulations! The class Alchemist has reached level 30.

Now you can produce DEX and SPE potions!

DEX potion formula: one red soul essence + eight green soul essences + one blue soul essence.

SPE potion formula: two red soul essences + six green soul essences + two blue soul essences.

"And I didn't even have the chance to use the STR potions," Ryan laughed a little. "Well, it doesn't really matter."

While the others were choosing their classes, Ryan started to summon golems. It would be great if they could be used against the bosses, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Despite the stupid cost in mana to summon them, not even if they reach the same level as the bosses, they will become a real threat to them.

"You should leave a few of your soldiers here," Ryan said. "In case something unexpected happens, they will inform us."

"They are my companions…" Haruna said and then sighed. "Three of them should be fine, right?"

Ryan nodded. He wanted to make her leave more people behind since they won't be very useful against the bosses, and Ryan didn't need more human deaths on his conscience, but that wasn't his call. In any case, Ryan and the others turned around and followed the path they used in the last few hours. It was a bit annoying, but Ryan had to give the order for the other golems in the other dungeons not to attack Haruna and her soldiers. While that took Ryan another day, fortunately, he didn't notice any changes in the monsters' behavior.

"What do you think, Femradiel?" Ryan asked.

"The silver tigers are being cautious since you destroyed several of their groups and they have no information about the situation North from their base," Femradiel replied. "I have no idea what the black tortoises are thinking. You decreased the numbers of a group to the point that they should have noticed that they are weakened, and not stupid species would use that chance to attack."

Ryan was also thinking along the same lines… in any case, it was only a matter of time before the monsters began to starve. He doubted that those freaks would resist for longer since their growth will undoubtedly slow down due to it.

Just waiting for the confrontation between the monsters wasn't something Ryan wanted to do, so he began to think of ways to make Haruna and the others useful. The group was pretty well-balanced, but that also meant that they wouldn't become a helpful force anytime soon unless Ryan finds a non-conventional way to power them up.

Ryan checked their status and confirmed that everyone there had at least five hundred points of mana. While it wasn't a decent number to use his crossbows, Ryan decided to craft some for them and then enchant with the souls of his golems. It was just a loan, and since that would help Ryan improve his skills, he had no reason not to do it. It would be great if he could make copies of the Thunder Lord Crossbow, but hope for that was a bit too much.

"The plan is going to be like this," Ryan began his explanation. "Since you guys are too weak, you will have to focus on attacking a single enemy. Even though you guys are weak, you will cause enough damage to kill a boss, even with a weapon that weaklings like you never used before."

"… Why do you have to keep reminding us of that?" Haruna asked, slightly annoyed.

"To make you guys feel the urge to improve," Ryan said.

Since he already knew all the parts of his crossbows, crafting them fast had been pretty easy. He just had to find the right amount of dirt, then transform it into steel, and then use Auto-Production. While the whole process consumed around one thousand points of his mana, the crossbows could be crafted in less than ten seconds.

"I know that you know what you are doing, but given that you can make items easy just like that, shouldn't you focus on increasing our strengths?" Haruna asked. "Long-ranged weapons are fine and all, but changing our fighting style so suddenly won't be that helpful."

"Do you seriously think your fighting style can let you survive a melee fight against monsters of that size?" Ryan asked.

"… No," Haruna said.

"It looks like you are not a lost cause," Ryan said. "I don't need you guys to die in front of me, so I will make sure that you will be useful to the very end and the only way to do that is not to put you guys on the frontlines."

Haruna understood that Ryan was worried about their safety in his own cold way. The truth was that Ryan didn't want to see more people dying, even more so when they were on his side. He still could recall the anger he felt when he fought against Mephisto, and that type of anger was dangerous.

"So, you are going to use them as an army, just like Victor?" Femradiel asked.

"It will take months for them to reach that level," Ryan shook his head. "But even with their status, they should be able to kill a few bosses in a short amount of time if they concentrate all their mana. I think I will need at least that much help if things take a wrong turn somewhere."

"Well, if you are looking for help, I can offer you some," Femradiel said. "Don't worry, you won't have to transform into a dragon."

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Ryan asked.

"Have you heard off of doppelgangers and familiars?" Femradiel asked. "I can think that those can help you."